I certainly hope Olga's life story helps raise your spirits. Someone from the past to relate to and make you feel less alone. Historical characters have a way of doing that I find.

Relating to the past does raise your spirits, but of course with every good thing of the past there is that melancholy nostalgia in knowing that you are trapped in the present, looking back at an unattainable world - that is the cost of knowing what used to be. It will always be a price worth paying for me, though; I hold the story of Olga and her family dear to me.

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“...because I rant not, neither rave of what I feel, can you be so shallow as to dream that I feel nothing? ”"I saw a little girl, her eyes tightly closed, holding to the old kind world, one that she knew in her heart could not remain, and she was holding it and pleading, never to let her go.

If I had to think about it, I'd also say Olga. I'm a very moody person, very bookish, and definitely not what someone would describe as a 'classic beauty' the way they always compared her to Tatiana in appearance. I also have a younger sister, so I relate to her in terms of being an older sister. And while she looked out for her younger sisters, she wasn't as commanding of them behaving as Tatiana was, being the 'governess' and all, and I feel that while I look out for my younger sister, I prefer to have fun with her rather than discourage her in everything. That's how I feel as an adult though - Olga was nearly my age when the family was murdered, so at twenty-three, I feel I relate more to Olga. However at say eleven, when I first became interested in the Romanovs, I'd have said I related more to Anastasia - I was a rowdy child, and I could be very improper and impolite, and I loved to joke around or make people laugh. I was less interested in my studies at the time, as Anastasia and Maria are often described as being, and more interested in everything else going on around me in life. However at this time in my life, and when I look back, probably my teenage years as well, I best relate to Olga for sure.

In one key way, I am like Tatiana--people think I'm a snob because I'm very reserved and I don't smile a lot, especially in photographs. However, I am not unfriendly, just painfully shy. For this, I've developed quite a soft spot for Tatiana, and even though she's been dead for nearly 100 years, I feel badly for her when Romanov "fans" say they don't like her as much as her sisters. Those who knew her best say she was a wonderful person, after all, and I believe she was. She was just on the shy side. Enigmatic, yes, and sometimes inscrutable, but that doesn't mean she was haughty and/or proud.

In one key way, I am like Tatiana--people think I'm a snob because I'm very reserved and I don't smile a lot, especially in photographs. However, I am not unfriendly, just painfully shy. For this, I've developed quite a soft spot for Tatiana, and even though she's been dead for nearly 100 years, I feel badly for her when Romanov "fans" say they don't like her as much as her sisters. Those who knew her best say she was a wonderful person, after all, and I believe she was. She was just on the shy side. Enigmatic, yes, and sometimes inscrutable, but that doesn't mean she was haughty and/or proud.

Of course, I'm one of those fans that like her. Hence the name of my cat.

In one key way, I am like Tatiana--people think I'm a snob because I'm very reserved and I don't smile a lot, especially in photographs. However, I am not unfriendly, just painfully shy. For this, I've developed quite a soft spot for Tatiana, and even though she's been dead for nearly 100 years, I feel badly for her when Romanov "fans" say they don't like her as much as her sisters. Those who knew her best say she was a wonderful person, after all, and I believe she was. She was just on the shy side. Enigmatic, yes, and sometimes inscrutable, but that doesn't mean she was haughty and/or proud.

Of course, I'm one of those fans that like her. Hence the name of my cat.

I know, Tim, and your cat is adorable! I just think Tatiana is sometimes judged a little harshly, and I feel kind of sorry for her, even though she isn't here to know the difference. I know what it's like to be the quiet type, so I take it more personally than I probably should, lol.

I'd say I'm like Olga I'm a bookworm, sensitive, from a young age I've understood things that where going on which I wasn't told about and also quite anxious like when Olga was nursing. I think my sister is most like Tatiana, she's elegant, beautiful and like's to take charge like the Governess.

Maria Nikolaevna may be my favourite, and I am not the oldest sibling, but I think, like many others, I am most similar in character to Olga Nikolaevna.

Like her, deep in the core I am a sensitive melancholic. I love books and reading, I fancy myself sort of a writer too. I can be obstinate and argue with my mother, though I love her dearly. I am an introvert with poetic outlook on the world.

I don't think I resemble one but share characteristics with some . Forget Alexis , Marie and Anastasia - they were too young . Alix - her vegetarianism and morbidity ! Nicholas - his passion for cigarettes and love of the outdoors . Olga - bookish dreamer . Tatiana - reticient , hiding her true feelings. But we mustn't kid ourselves . They were from a different time , country and class , and they (like many others at the time) would certainly have disagreed with my Western 21st century values - democratic , liberal , progressive ,scientific, atheistic ; a belief in animal rights (no huntiing !) , protection of minorities , equality and justice for all etc . Superficially I can relate to them and sympathize with their struggles , but scratch the surface and there are big problems.

I don't think I resemble one but share characteristics with some . Forget Alexis , Marie and Anastasia - they were too young . Alix - her vegetarianism and morbidity ! Nicholas - his passion for cigarettes and love of the outdoors . Olga - bookish dreamer . Tatiana - reticient , hiding her true feelings. But we mustn't kid ourselves . They were from a different time , country and class , and they (like many others at the time) would certainly have disagreed with my Western 21st century values - democratic , liberal , progressive ,scientific, atheistic ; a belief in animal rights (no huntiing !) , protection of minorities , equality and justice for all etc . Superficially I can relate to them and sympathize with their struggles , but scratch the surface and there are big problems.

Fair points. Race is a tricky one. Russia was more ethnically and culturally diverse than the homogenous Western Europe yet, in so many ways, it was also more traditional and conservative. Hard to know how the last Romanovs would have felt about living in a melting pot society and surrounded by racial minorities. My guess is that they'd probably have some measure of rejection towards it...perhaps having less to do with racial insensitivity and more with basic unfamiliarity. A perception that such minorities - as the Jews were unfairly charged with - couldn't possibly have the same values and standards as they and their fellow white Christians. This could easily change over time of course. Nicholas and the children may have been lacking in liberal education but they were all sensitive souls.

In terms of sexuality, Russian aristocratic society was - as we know - surprisingly progressive. There also a general tolerance for homosexuality. Less egalitarian than overall western democratic views of modern times, but I'd say the Imperial Family was at least as accepting of "alternative lifestyles" as most in rural/conservative circles are today. Their devout religiosity wouldn't seem too out of place in certain areas of the US and Europe of the 21st century either. Animals rights is a tricky one as well. The Romanovs were avid hunters and not at all averse to a stylish fur outfit, but they also loved their pets; dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, etc. They did as we do today. Draw a mostly arbitrary line between the animals we hunt and eat as being either inferior creatures and/or game (chickens, cattle, deer, etc.), and those we play fetch with, snuggle up with, or use for transportation (dogs, cats, horses, etc.).

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Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right...

I don't think I resemble one but share characteristics with some . Forget Alexis , Marie and Anastasia - they were too young . Alix - her vegetarianism and morbidity ! Nicholas - his passion for cigarettes and love of the outdoors . Olga - bookish dreamer . Tatiana - reticient , hiding her true feelings. But we mustn't kid ourselves . They were from a different time , country and class , and they (like many others at the time) would certainly have disagreed with my Western 21st century values - democratic , liberal , progressive ,scientific, atheistic ; a belief in animal rights (no huntiing !) , protection of minorities , equality and justice for all etc . Superficially I can relate to them and sympathize with their struggles , but scratch the surface and there are big problems.

Fair points. Race is a tricky one. Russia was more ethnically and culturally diverse than the homogenous Western Europe yet, in so many ways, it was also more traditional and conservative. Hard to know how the last Romanovs would have felt about living in a melting pot society and surrounded by racial minorities. My guess is that they'd probably have some measure of rejection towards it...perhaps having less to do with racial insensitivity and more with basic unfamiliarity. A perception that such minorities - as the Jews were unfairly charged with - couldn't possibly have the same values and standards as they and their fellow white Christians. This could easily change over time of course. Nicholas and the children may have been lacking in liberal education but they were all sensitive souls.

In terms of sexuality, Russian aristocratic society was - as we know - surprisingly progressive. There also a general tolerance for homosexuality. Less egalitarian than overall western democratic views of modern times, but I'd say the Imperial Family was at least as accepting of "alternative lifestyles" as most in rural/conservative circles are today. Their devout religiosity wouldn't seem too out of place in certain areas of the US and Europe of the 21st century either. Animals rights is a tricky one as well. The Romanovs were avid hunters and not at all averse to a stylish fur outfit, but they also loved their pets; dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, etc. They did as we do today. Draw a mostly arbitrary line between the animals we hunt and eat as being either inferior creatures and/or game (chickens, cattle, deer, etc.), and those we play fetch with, snuggle up with, or use for transportation (dogs, cats, horses, etc.).

On certain attitudes and beliefs persisting into modern times - yes for sure. The values I listed, that I hold, are the exception not the rule in modern global terms. The lack of a liberal education in Nicky proved fatal . For history to have taken a different course it would have required, among many other things , Alexander III and Marie, to have been the Russian equivalent of Friedrich and Vicky of Germany , and hope that Nicky took heed (unlike Wilhelm ). OTMAA's education was, by European royal standards of the time , extremely conservative . The almost complete lack of bitterness towards their parents post February Revolution is startling . If their education had been liberal , I can't imagine they would have been so sanguine , regardless of youth or religious fatalism. Even Olga , the perceptive one , couldn't understand the bitterness felt towards her father.